“I like this better,” I said honestly.
Luke rolled back over on his back and we laid there for what seemed like hours looking up at the stars. My eyes were getting heavy, but I wasn’t ready for this night to end.
“Tell me more about the club,” I said breaking the silence.
“What do you want to know?” Luke asked not looking at me.
I wasn’t sure what I really wanted to know, but as of now, I didn’t really know anything, yet I had been in the middle of it ever since I had met Luke. “Why do people do it? I mean, I know why you did it, but why does anyone want to go through that?”
He turned his head and raised an eyebrow at me. “Go through what?”
he asked curiously.
“The prospecting thingy.” Relief flooded his face as soon as the words left my mouth. If I didn’t know any better I would assume he thought I knew something I shouldn’t
.
“Thingy?”
he asked laughing.
“You know what I mean
,” I answered a little embarrassed.
I never
spoke like that and now that I had I felt like an idiot.
He must have felt the heat from my cheeks radiating around me and took mercy on me.
“Everyone
wants to be a part of something, to belong to a group or a society or an organization. Our club is no harder to get into than the Hattiesburg Country Club,” he said smirking. “The difference in us and a country club, though, is we don’t want you to try and be something you’re not. If you belong in this world you know it. You can feel it in your heart. If you don’t, well you just don’t.” He was now staring at me as if it was me he was talking about and not a prospect.
“And how does someone know if they don’t belong?”
I asked almost in a whisper. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Luke’s. It was as if I was in a trance. Luke rolled over on top of me, snaking his legs through mine and bringing his arms up next to my face.
“They can feel it.” Luke broke eye contact with me and started planting feather like kisses all over my face. “Every time they come around, every nerve in their body screams to them that this isn’t right.” I lifted my head back so he had access to my neck. “They feel like an outsider. They often ask themselves ‘why did I get myself into this
?’” His knee was now between my legs rubbing softly.
“Well how do they get out when they realize they don’t belong?” I asked breathless.
“They leave-before they know too much,” Luke was now looking at me. His expression was impassive; his breathing heavy and his knee had come to a complete stop. I knew Luke was warning me. I knew he was hoping to scare me into rethinking what I was getting into
.
The problem was-I did belong
. I could feel it in my heart. It was not just my love for him that kept me here.
There was something else.
I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but whatever it was had me convinced that I would give my life for any of them. I had never felt more a part of something than I did when I was with them.
“I’m not going anywhere. I love you, Luke and I love this club and everyone in it. I belong here
,” I said searching his eyes for some sort of clue as to what he was thinking.
“There is a lot you don’t know-things I can’t tell you because
it’s not my story to tell. I’m not a good person, Dallas. I work very hard to separate the two lifestyles I live. Dragging you into the middle of this is really going to complicate things. There are a lot of people who don’t like me and to get to me they could go through you. That’s why I have never really had anyone in my life like you. I just don’t want to take that chance, but on the other hand I can’t let you go,” he exclaimed frustrated.
It seemed Luke was fighting and internal battle and was losing. He climbed off of me, but pulled me to him once he was beside me again.
“Luke I’m a big girl. I have dealt with a lot of shit in my life. I can assure you I can handle anything you throw at me. I already told you I don’t want to know what’s going on and besides, I’m in love,” I said with a reassuring smile.
“Well that makes two of us darlin’.” Luke’s kisses are powerful-better than anything I have ever felt. This kiss was different. It was passionate, but hard. It felt like a kiss of warning, but reassurance. There was nothing out here but us and the stars. I felt small in his arms, but like I could face anything with him at my side. He was my protector, my rock, my best friend-
my Luke
.
“It’s getting late
,” Luke said pulling away from me.
I didn’t want to sleep. I didn’t want to go back to the house. I could stay with him in this shooting house forever
, just the two of us. He stood with ease and held his hands out to me. I let him pull me to my feet and he planted a swift kiss to my cheek before letting me go so he could close his “roof door.”
We walked back to the house hand in hand, him lifting me to
carry me across the gravel road. A million things were going on in my head, but my biggest question was if everyone knew who Luke was, then why did society accept him? He seemed to be a hit at the engagement party and even the Mayor had spoken fondly of him and said he owed him a favor.
I didn’t want to upset Luke anymore with my questions. It seemed he was having a hard enough time convincing himself that it was ok to keep me in his life. I would ask
Red sometime this week when Luke was not around.
As we walked up the driveway, I could hear music coming from the clubhouse. It seemed that Tiny and the others were having a pretty good time in there, but I was sure that somewhere there was someone sober and watching to make sure Luke was protected.
“You tired?” Luke asked me once we were inside.
“Yes, very
,” I answered not realizing until that moment how true those words were. I didn’t think I would make it to the bed. Fatigue seemed to have taken over and I walked like a zombie until I was in the bed. I never remembered closing my eyes.
Chapter 23
For the next several days, Luke and I lived our lives as if we were a normal couple. We ate junk food, watched movies, played with Neo, took showers, but the one thing that was lacking was the sex. It seemed that ever since that night under the stars Luke was afraid to touch me.
He kept me busy during the day, making sure not to make any moves that would lead me on to thinking he wanted something more. It couldn’t be because I was sick, because we had made love the first night I was home. I also noticed that he had been on his cell phone a lot and when someone called he left the room. I had told myself that I would not push him. I was sure that something was going on that was keeping his mind occupied and if he wasn’t touching me he had a good reason.
By Friday I had cabin fever and I was going to go crazy if I didn’t get the hell out of the house. Luke had been shady all morning and I had decided that after lunch I was going to seduce him whether he wanted it or not.
While Luke was out at the clubhouse with Tiny, who had still not left, I decided to put makeup on for the first time in over a week. I applied some mascara, blush and lip gloss to my paled skin. This weekend we would be spending the day at my house so I could lay out by the pool. Luke didn’t know that yet, but I was sure I could persuade him. I put on the red dress he had brought for me that I had yet to wear
, and let my long, straight hair down; relieving it from the ponytail it had been in for days. My legs were shaved, my face was pretty and my dress was short. There was absolutely no way I was going to let Luke deny me.
I walked into the kitchen to find him leaning on the counter with his head in his hands.
Something was wrong.
“Hey baby, everything ok?” I asked walking over to him. He lifted his head and smiled, but I could see the worry in his eyes.
“Yeah, baby. I’m good. Look at you
,” Luke said gesturing with his hand at me. “You look gorgeous. Although, I’m gonna miss the site of you in my t-shirts and shorts,” he said walking over to me and wrapping his arms around my waist. He pulled me to him and buried his face in my neck. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself up, wrapping my legs around him. He readjusted his grip, but still kept his face buried in my neck.
This was not working out like I thought it would.
“Dallas, we need to talk
,” he said never looking up.
Oh shit. He called me Dallas, not ‘babe’ or ‘baby’ or ‘darlin’-just Dallas
. I couldn’t answer him. I tried to unwrap my legs from around him, but he tightened his grip on my thighs and held me in place.
“I have to leave town for a few days. I should be back by Monday, Tuesday at the latest. I know I told you I would be here, but I
’ve been putting it off and I have to go.”
I breathed an audible sigh of relief and smiled. I managed to pull
my head back and his face away from my neck so I could look at him
.
“That’s fine baby. You have been great, but I’m good I promise. I was actually thinking about maybe inviting the ladies over to my place for a po
ol party. This is probably the last week we can swim before the weather gets cold.” That was the thing about Mississippi, the weather was always unpredictable. It was the middle of October, yet it felt like June.
“I am undeserving of you
,” Luke said right before crushing his mouth to mine. His tongue ran over my lips begging for permission and I opened my mouth inviting him in. His kiss was hard and deep. His fingers dug into my thighs then moved to my ass, kneading it. I needed this so bad. It had been days, and I didn’t think I would ever get enough to make up for it. I was expecting him to carry me into the bedroom, but instead he sat me on the counter pushing the day’s mail to the floor and laying me on my back. With two hands he grabbed the middle of my dress and ripped it, splitting it down the middle. I gasped in surprise and delight.
Shit he turned me on.
“I’ll buy you another one
,” was all he said before his mouth was on my stomach, kissing his way up to my breasts. His greedy hands already had my bra off and thrown to the floor by the time he made it to my nipples. He sucked hard causing my back to arch off the counter in pleasure. This was rough and was exactly what I needed. His thumbs hooked into the thin lace of my panties and shredded them. He added them to the discarded clothes on the floor which now consisted of his shirt and my bra. My dress still lay underneath me, open in the front as if I were wearing a bath robe.
Luke’
s mouth found my aching center and with just as much aggressiveness as his kisses, his tongue invaded me. I screamed, and writhed and came with pure ecstasy and pleasure. I was still coming down from my orgasm when he grabbed me under my arms, lifting me from the counter and pulled me to the floor, leaving my dress. I needed him inside me. “Please Luke,” I moaned.
It had been too long
.
“Please what Dallas? Tell me what you want.”
I take back what I said earlier. I loved hearing him call me by
name
. “I want you to fuck me,” I said breathlessly. His mouth was unrelenting; kissing everything on me and all I could do was moan and throw my head back. The kitchen floor was hard, but at that moment I was floating on air.
“How you want it baby?” Luke asked in my favorite raspy voice.
“I don’t care, Luke. Just give it to me.” He pulled away from me and sat back on his knees between my legs.
“Touch yourself
,” he demanded. I let my hands drift to my breasts, rolling my nipples between my thumb and fingers pulling on them hard. I ran my hands down my stomach then over my lips, down to my entrance. I inserted a finger and it felt so good I closed my eyes and opened my mouth, throwing my head back once again. The thrill of touching myself in front of him, alone had me nearly coming
.
“Fuck, you are so hot, and all mine.”
I opened my eyes to see him looking down at me. He was so sexy sitting there with his fists clenched like he was trying to hold back from touching me himself. His arms were flexed and his muscles bulged showing several veins running down his arms, weaving in between his tattoos.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me up so that I was face to face with him. He took the finger that was inside me only moments ago and placed it in his mouth, sucking my juices off of my own hand. I quivered with excitement. Everything he did turned me on and he kept getting sexier.
Too soon, he pulled my finger from his mouth and kissed the tip of it before standing gracefully in front of me.
“Undress me
.” I instantly dropped to my knees in front of him. He stood over me with his thumbs in the pocket of his jeans looking down at me on the floor at his feet. I took a moment to look at him, memorizing every curve of his arms, every ripple of his abs and every line of his tattoos. He was the epitome of male perfection.
I
looked directly in front of me. My position made me eye level with his crotch
. Oh my
. When I pulled his pants and underwear down, he sprang free greeting me with all of his impressive length. It looked like it had grown since I had seen it last and my thighs moistened from the wetness of my center. I took him in my hand, rubbing the soft satiny skin back and forth between my fist. I leaned forward, circling my tongue around the head and almost came apart when a moan escaped his lips. I looked up to see his head leaning back while his hand grabbed the back of my head and encouraged me to go deeper. I pulled him into my mouth, sucking until he reached the back of my throat.